Does anyone else hate it when a waiter takes your whole family's order without writing anything down?

Question

And, 9 times out of 10 it will come out wrong. We usually ask for deletions or changes and it amazes me that the waiter doesn't think they should keep track of it. If I ask them to write it down, they seem offended.

Answer 1

I run a restaurant and I remember when I served - I'd get cocky and not write an order - or other customers had all my pens.   I recall the dread when getting back to the POS and not remembering an order....... or, worse, remembering on my way home after the shift about the side of this or that that I totally forgot to get for the man at table 10.

Answer 2

If they get it wrong, you have a right to be annoyed.  However, the best waiters are able to keep even complex orders in their head without writing them down.  It is a sign of skill and confidence - but only if they get it right!

Answer 3

If they get it right, it shows how good they are. If they get it wrong, ask them to correct the mistake - if refused, ask for the manager. Good service should be rewarded with tipping and personal compliments, poor service, with a complaint.

Answer 4

omg i thouhgt it was just me lol i know it is very anoying you just know its going 2 be wrong :O

Answer 5

It depends on what kind of place it is. If it is some chain restaurant then they should definitely write it down. They are not usually trained or have the experience to do it.

If it is a nice fine dining place, then they should take it without writing anything down. A well trained server will be able to do this with no problem, treating your table like it is their only one and giving u a more personal experience.

Answer 6

WEll, it all depends, a lot of waiters don't write things down, in the better restaurants in NYC and when the orders come out they are completely correct and they go to the right people. So, no,I don't hate it at good restaurants.  I've been to restaurants where everything is written down and it all comes out wrong,so what's the difference.

As far as I'm concerned, the most importantant  thing is getting the right order, written down or not.

Answer 7

If they get it right, I do not care how they do it. If they mess up the order, I take that into account when I decide what to tip. If the problems are major, I also ask to see the manager and explain that our orders were incorrect, and that it seriously detracts from the dining experience when some have food and some are sitting waiting for their orders to be corrected. I also mention that the waiter did not write down the orders!

Usually that solves the problem, and the price of the meal is usually adjusted accordingly!

Answer 8

Being a waitress and having many waitress friends who can do this without messing up orders I don't think it should annoy you as much as it does. Depending on how you treat your server they may  just do it on purpose since you don't trust them to do your job right or maybe you  are just having bad experiences with bad servers. As a waitress it annoys me when my cooks mess up the food and my customers blame it on me.

Answer 9

why are you so filled with hate?

Answer 10

Are you jealous?

Answer 11

The ones that do this are usually pretty good at it and get good tips.  Many try to do it and fail. Yeah it drives me crazy when they can't.

Answer 12

I used to serve, and I wrote everything down.  I would have felt stupid having to guess what they said or having to go back and ask them.  And it does annoy me too when I go out to eat and they don't write things down.  You do have to remember though that sometimes it is the cook that messed up and not the server.  And the people that I worked with that didn't write things down were usually the ones that had more complaints (and they thought they were great servers, not writing things down proves nothing).  You can tip according to service (please remember that they are only paid $2.15 an hour and a percentage of their tip goes to the busser/hostess/ bartender).

Answer 13

yes i do too it bothers me

Answer 14

It only bothers me if they get the order wrong.

Answer 15

If they're a good enough waiter to get the order right, then I don't mind.

But I haven't ever had this problem.

I've never really had a waiter not write down our order.

And I agree with the person who says you should tip on service as opposed to a %.

Yeah someone who has had a job like that won't agree, but I don't feel like I should pay for service I didn't get.

Simple fact is I'm going to give someone the tip they deserve.

If I get bad service, the tip will be low, and vice versa.

Of course I tip what I can afford as well.

Answer 16

I can accurately remember orders of about 2-3 people.  More than that, I pull out the server pad and pen.  I can't remember too much because as soon as I fill my brain up with an order too large and detailed, it seems that someone starts talking to me and I forget details.  That's what the server pad is for!!! Good luck with that!

Answer 17

Thats why you need to tip on service, not on some magical percent.